Railway brake beam



Dec, 16, 1924.

S. A; CRONE RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Filed March 22, 1924 vwafnbpfc GWL Dec. 16, 1924.

f s. A. cRoNE RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM Filed March 22, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Wi-(Tj Guhl Patented Dec. 16, 1924i.

SETE- A. GRNE, 0F EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY,

L RAILWAY BRAKE BEABE.

Application filed March 22, 1924.

T0 all w/iom t mary concern Be it known that l, Sn'rri Gnomi, a citizen ot the United States, and a resident of last- Orange, in the county of Essex and State ot' New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Railway Brake Beams, of which the following is a specification,

rllhe invention pertains to railway brake beams and particularly to a tour point suspension therei'or and to guards extending lengthwise of the car truck and above the brake beams and cooperating with the respective tramway bars or members of the 'four point suspension for holding the beams captive', while at the same time permitting the beams yto have their requisite movements in the service application of the brakes to and their release from the car wheels.

My invention comprises as one feature thereof special tramway bars to be engaged by the truss rod during the operation of the brake-beam, these bars being of channel cross section and transversely curved on their upper surfaces and properly inclined and properly rigid to compel the proper application ot the brakes to and their retirementrom the wheels, as distinguished from having a sagging uncertain action under the weight ot' the beams. The channel shape of the tramway bars permits me to provide rigid bars of great strength without undue weight of metal therein and the transversely curved upper surface of these bars permits the end portions oi' the truss rod to ride upon the bars with limited resistance to and wear on the rod.

rFhe guard bars which extend over the brake beams are detachably connected at their outer ends to the outer ends of the tramway bars and these guard bars, in one embodiment of my invention, are of the same channel shape as the tramway bars and hence of great strength without being unduly heavy. ylhe brake-beams by being held captive or caged between the tramway bars and guard hars can neither fall to the road bed or be carried upwardly over the wheels in the event of accident to the usual brake beam hangers.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view, partly broken away,

Serial No. l701,009.

of a car truck frame equipped with the four point suspension and safety features of my invention F ig. :2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the same taken on the dotted lines 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a side view, on a larger scale, of a portion ot' the outer end of one of the tramway bars;

Fig. e is an end projection of the same, taken from the right hand side of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view, on a larger scale, oi a portion of the outer end of one of the upper guard bars;

F ig. 6 is an end projection of the same, taken from the right hand side of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detached plan view, on a larger scale, of a supporting plate secured to the spring plank of the truck for supporting the inner adjoining end portions of aligned tramway bars;

Fig, S is an end projection of the same, taken from the right hand edge of Fig. 7

Fig. 9 is a front edge view of the same;

Fig. l0 is a vertical transverse section, on a larger scale, through a portion of the spring plank and adjacent portions of the tr mway bar and guard bar, taken on the dotted line lO-lO of Fig. 2;

Fig. ll is a plan view, partly broken away, of a car truck :trame equipped with a modified form of my invention;

Fig. lf2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the same taken on the dotted line l2-l2 of Fig. ll, and

Fig. 13 is a vertical transverse section, on a larger scale, through a portion of the spring plank, the `tramway bar and the supporting plate for said bar, taken on the dotted line 13-13 of Fig. 12.

ln the drawings, referring to Figs. l to lO inclusive, 15 designates a portion of a well-known form of spring plank constituting a portion of a car-truck frame of usual type, and i6, i7 indicate portions of insidehung trussed brake-beams of customary type, each comprising the usual compression member 18, tension member 19 and strut 2O.

' hese brake beams are suspended by well known pivoted hangers, not shown, and carry the brake shoes, not shown, as usual.

My invention does not involve any change in the brake-beams, theirl shoes or their hangers, which form two points of the suspension.

My invention pertains more especially to the tramway bars 21, 22, which are duplicated at opposite sides of the truck, as usual, and form two means of suspension for the brake-beams, to the bar 23 secured to the spring plank anda-t its ends affording the guard members 24, 25 extending over the brake beams and detachably receiving at their outer ends the outer ends of said tramway bars, said bar 23 being duplicated at opposite sides of the truck, and to the means for supporting the inner end portions of the tramway bars from the spring plank, said means comprising a plate 26 riveted toy the lower side of the spring plank and having a longitudinal channel 27 to receive the inner end portions of two aligned tramway bars 21, 22 and upwardly deflected spring sections 28, 29 for pressing the inner end portions of said bars upwardly against the lower surface of the spring plank.

The aligned tramway bars 21, 22 are alike in every detail and said bars extend longitudinally, one forwardly and the other rearwardly, below the brake-beams 16, 17. Each tramway bar has a plain straight horizontal base section 30 and an upwardly and outwardly inclined section 31 which serves as a support and guide for the end portion of the truss rod 19. The tramway bars are distinctive in that they are throughout of channel shape and have downwardly extended edge flanges and an upwardly convexed web, as shown in Figs. d and 10, whereby said bars are rendered strong and rigid and present rounded or transversely curved up per surfaces to the truss rods, this being important since thereby no sharp corners of the bars are permitted to be in contact with the truss rods at any time.

'The inclined sections 31 of the tramway bars are of the proper inclination to guide the truss rods in such manner that the brake shoes are correctly applied to and retired from the wheels, and the rigidity of the tramway bars is such as to avoid uncertain sagging thereof under the weight of the brake beams. |The upper outer ends of the inclined sections 31 of the tramway bars have their edge flanges cut away and the web of the bars at said ends bent into the form of a sleeve or hinge-knuckle 33 (Fig. for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The base sections 30 of the tramway bars are straight out to a point below the compression members 18 of the brake beams, and preferably the tramway bars 2l, 22 are in two separate pieces each being complete in itself for its brake beam, and these. two bars are slidable at their inner aligned end portions into the channel 27 of the supporting plate 26, which plate is secured to the spring plank 15 by means of rivets 3i. The inner ends of the base members of the bars 21, 22 are inserted endwise into the respective ends of the channel 27 and pass into abutting relation with each other centrally below the spring plank 15, and said bars are removable from the channel 27 when necessary, not being riveted to said spring plank. l/Vhen the inner ends of the bars 21, 22 are inserted through the respective ends of the channel 27, said bars flex the spring sections 28, 29 downwardly, and thereafter said spring sections act with a strong spring pressure upwardly against the inner ends of said bars and serve to bind them firmly against the lower surface of the spring plank 15, said spring sections 28, 29 serving to steady the bars 21, 22 attheir inner end portions and make up for any irregularities there might possibly be in the .facing surfaces of the bars with the spring plank and plate 26. The edge flanges on the bars 21, 22 snugly fit within the angular walls of the channel 27 and against the base of said channel, as shown in Fig. 10.

The four point suspension structure hereinbefore described is complete in itself for operative use, especially if I secure the inner ends of the tramway bars to the spring plank in the mannerl shown in Fig. l2, but I prefer to apply certain safety features to cooperate with the tramway bars 2l, 22 so that the brake beams may be held captive and neither fall to the roadbed nor be earried upwardly by the wheels, should the brake hangers become damaged, and to this end I make use of the safety bar 23 whose middle portion is bent downwardly to fit between the flanges 35 of the spring plank 15 and against the upper surface of said plank, as shown in Fig. 2, said portion of the bar 23 being secured down against the spring plank by means of straps 36 which loop over the bar 23 at its middle portion and are secured at their ends to the spring plank by the same rivets 34 which secure the supporting plate 26 to the lower surface of the spring plank. The opposite inner portions of the bar 23 slant upwardly and outwardly from the spring plank l5 and thence project outwardly in opposite longitudinal directions to form the guards 24, 25,l which extend above the beams 16, 17 and at their outer ends are detachably connected with the tramway bars 21, 22, respectively, by pins 37 which extend through apertured wings 38 formed; on the ends of the bar 23 and through the sleeve or knuckle 33 formed on the outer ends of the tramway bars, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The wings 38 are formed by splitting the ends of the bar 23 longitudinally for a short dist-ance through the web thereof and then twisting the opposite edge portions of the ends of the bar into vertical position and curving the same downwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, to suitablypreceive between them the sleeve 33 of the tramway bars and operate as hinge-knuckles or as convenient llO means for detachably connecting the tramway bars and guard bars together. The sand plank 15 shown is shallow and is a common form of sand plank, but some spring or sand planks in car trucks have a deeper channel than the sand plank 15 illustrated, and it will appear obvious that the portions of the bar 23 which extend upwardly from the sand plank must conform to the flanges that may be on the sand plank so as to extend upwardly along the facing' sides thereof and then project outwardly over the edges of said flanges. The bar 23 is preferably in one integral piece from end to end, and said bar is also preferably of channel shape in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 10, so that the bar may possess strength and rigidity without undue weight of metal, it not being intended that said bar shall have any appreciable yielding action under the weight of the brake beams. l preferably form the bar 23 and tramway bars 21, 22 of the same stock, as represented in Fig. 10, and so dispose the bar 23 that its upwardly conveXed web is exposed at the upper side of said bar, thus leaving smooth surfaces both for the sake of appearance and for convenience in handling and forming the bar.

The supporting plate 26 is flanged downwardly at its front and rear edges, as at 39, for the purpose of strengthening the edges of the plate 26 at the points at which the tramway bars 21, 22 would exert the greatest pressure against said plate.

ln assembling the several features of the invention, l first secure the bar 28 on the upper side of the spring plank 15 and secure theI supporting plate 26 on the lower side of said plank by applying the straps 36 over the bar 28 and securing said straps and the plate 26 by means of the rivets 34. After this has been done the adjoining ends of the tramway bars 21, 22 may be forced into the opposite ends of the channel 27 of the plate 26 and toward each other until they abut centrally below the spring plank, the spring sections 28, 29 being flexed downwardly by the insertion of said bars 21, 22 into the channel 27. Thereafter the pins 37 will be applied for the purpose of detachably coniiecting the outer ends of the tramway bars with the outer ends of the guards 24, 25. Vhenever it may be necessary to remove the tramway bars 21, 22 the pins 37 may be withdrawn and said bars pulled outwardly from the channel 27 of the. supporting plate 26. l therefore preferably form the guards 24, 25 from one integral bar 23 and have the tramway bars 21, 22 in two separate pieces supported at .their inner ends by the plate 26 and detachably connected at their outer ends by any suitable means with the outer ends of the guards 24, 25. The rigidity of the. bar 23 and bars 21, 22 makes it unnecessary to rivet the inner ends of the train-- w ay bars to the spring plank, since said bars cannot slide outwardly from the supporting' plate 26 until after the pins 37 have been withdrawn for disconnecting said bars from the guards 24, 25.

l desire to call attention to the fact that in the construction hereinbefore described the inner ends of the tramway bars when inserted into the channel ol' the plate 26 come up against abutments, these abutments, in the illustration of my invention presented herein, being, for each bar, the inner end of the other bar, and that said tramway bars are secured in position wit-hout the use of bolts or rivets extending through them and the spring plank, the tramway bars are therefore removable `from the spring plank without cutting any rivets or removing any bolts from the spring plank. lllhen tramway suspension bars are secured to the spring plank by bolts or rivets extending through them and the spring plank, the pressure of the brake beams against said bars and the conditions of car truck service generally, cause said bars to be driven against said bolts or rivets with a shearing action, and this is one of the objections my invention remedies in that the bars are not bolted or riveted to the spring plank but are sup ported at their inner end portions within the channel of the independently and permanently secured plate 26 and are resisted against inward thrust by abutments within the plate 26 instead of by rivets or bolts entering the bars and the springplank. have found that it is sufficient that the inner ends of the bars 21, 22 abut against each other within the plate 26 butl donot confine my invention to this method of providing abutments for the inner ends of said bars, the only essential consideration being that theI bars have points of resistance within the platD 26 without the use of riif'ets or bolts extending through the bars.

In Figs. 11, 12 and 13 ll illustra-te a modification of a portion of the invention, this modification residing mainly in the omission of the guards 24, 25 of Fig. 2 and in detachably securing the tramway bars to the spring plank by means of pins 4() and Cotter l-:eys 41. ln Figs. 1l, 12 and 13, 42 denotes the spring plank, 43, 44 designate the brake beams, 45, 46 the tramway bars and 47 indicates a channel supporting plate secured to the spring plank by means of rivets 4S and receiving the inner end portions of the tramway bars, which as aforesaid, are detachably secured in place by means of the pins and keys 41. The spring plank, brake beams and tramway bars shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13 are the same as the like features illustrated in Figs. 1 to 10 inclusive and therefore require no special description.

The omission of the guards Qd, Q5 from the construction shown in liigs. il, l2 and 13 makes it unnecessary to form the sleeves 33 onl the upper ends ot the tramway bars 45, 46 and otherwise the bars d5, are ot the same construction as the bars 2l, 22 of' llig. 2. The absence ot the guards 24;, 25 trom the construct-ion shown in Fig. l2 renders it necessary that the guard bars be fastened to the spring plank and to effect this result l make use oft the detachable pins l0 and keys l-l. Figs. llj l2 and 18 are presented to indicate that that portion ot the invention relating to the trairuvay bars is not necessarily limited to the employment of the guard bars $24-, 25, but l deem it very desirable that said guard bars be made use of, because of the benefits to be derived from their use.

Spring planks or sand planks of car trucks vary in design and details and hence l use the term spring plank herein in a generic sense as applying to spring planks generally.

l/Vhat l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

l. A. car-truck having a trussed brakebeam, a tramway suspension bar therefor, means secured to the spring plank for removably receiving the inner end of said tramway bar, and a guard bar rigidly secured to a truck member and extending outwardly over said suspension bar and above the brake-beam and detachably connected with the outer end of said tramway bar, said Atramway bar when treed trom the guard bar being removable.

2. A car-truck having a trussed brakebeam7 a tramway suspension bar therelor, and a guard bar rigidly secured to a truck member and extending outwardly over said suspension bar and above the brake-beam and detachably connected with the outer end of said tramway bar, said tramway bar when freed from the guard bar being detachable, and` said` guard bar being of channel form.

3. A car-truck having a trussed brakebeam, a tramway suspension bar therefor, and a guard bar rigidly secured to a truck member and extending outwardly over said suspension bar and above the brake-beam and dctachably connected with the outer end oit' said tramway bar, said tramway bar when freed from the guard bar being detachable, and said guard bar being of inverted channel form having an upwardly convexed web.

4l. A car-truck having a trussed brakebe'am, a tramway suspension bar therefor, and a guard bar rigidly secured to a truck member and extending outwardly over said suspension bar and above the brake-beam and detachably connected with. the outer end of said tramway bar7 said tramway bar and said guard bar being or" corresponding channel torni.

5. A car-truck having a trussed brakebeam, a tramway suspension bar therefoig and a guard bar rigidly secured to a vtruck member and extending outwardly over said suspension bar and above the brake-beam and detachably connected with the outer end ot said` tramway bar, said tramway bar and said guard bar being ot corresponding channel` form having depending side edge flanges and upwardly convened webs.

(l. il, car-truck having a trussed brakebcam, a tramway suspension bar theretor, and a guard bar rigidly secured to truck member and extending outwardly overA said suspension bar and above the brake-beam and detachably connected with the outer lend ot said tramway bar, the outer end of said tramway bar and the corresponding end ot the guard bar having cooperating apertured parts to detachably receive a con* neeting pin.

7. A car-truck having 'inside hung trussed brake-beams, aligned tramway suspension bars therefor and a. longitudinal bar secured at its middle portion to the spring plank and thence at its end portions extending outwardly over the tramway lbars and above the brake-beams to 'form safety guard bars and being connected at its outer ends to the outer ends et' said tramway bars.

n. car-truck having inside hung trussed infiltre-beams aligned tramway suspension bars therefor and a longitudinal bar secured at its middle portion tothe spring plank and thence at its end portions extending outwardly over the tramway bars and above the brake;- beains to form safety guard bars and being connected at its outer ends to the outer ends of said tramway bars and said longitudinal bar being of channel torni.

9. A car-truck having inside hung trussed brakebeains, aligned tramway suspension bars therefor and a longitudinal bar secured at its middle portion to the spring plank and thence at its end portions extending outwardly over the tramway bars and above the brake-beams to form safety guard bars and being connected at its outer ends to the outer ends of said tramway bars7 said tramway bars and said longitudinal bar being of invert-ed channel "form,

' 10. A car-truck having inside hung trussed brake-beams, aligned 'tramway suspension bars therefor and a longitudinal bar secured at its middle portion to the spring plank and thence at its end portions extending outwardly over the tramway bars and above the brake-beams to formV safety guard barsa said tramway bars at their outer ends being detachably connected with the outer ends ot' said longitudinal bar and at their inner end portions being supported from the` spring plank Vand detachable there- Lerares trom when the tramway bars are 'li trom said longitudin al bar.

ll. ln a car-truck having a spring plank and a tr bral-re-beann a tramway pension bar tor said beam7 guard bar secured to a truck member and extending outwardly over said suspension bar and above the bralre beam and connected at its outer end with the outer end ot the suspension. bar, and a plate below the spring' planlr and secured thereto having` a channel into which the inner end portion or" the suspension l ar may be introduced endwise and which plate is adapted to securely support said bar atits inner end porti n while the outer end portion thereot' is sustained by said guard bai'.

l2. ln a cr '-truck having' a spring plank and trussed brake-bemin a tramway suspension bar tor said beann a guard bar cured to a truck member and (amending outwardly over said suspension bar and above the brake beam and connected atits outer end with the outer end oit the suspension bar, and a plate below the spring; plank and secured thereto having` a channel into which the inner end portion ot the suspension har may be introduced endwise and which plate is adapted to securely support said bar at its inner end portion while the outer end portion thereot is sustained by said guard bar7 said guard har resisting outward movement ot said tramway bar 'from said plate and an abutment being' provided to resist undue inward movement thereof.

13. ln a car-truck having; a spring' plank and inside hung' trussed brake-beams aligned tramway suspension bars ttor said beams. Lguard bars secured to a truck member and extending' outwardly over said suspension bars and above the brake-beams and connected at their outer ends with the outer ends ot said suspension bars and a plate below the spring' plank and secured thereto having' a channel into which the inner end portions ot said tramway bars may be introduced endwise and which plate is adapted to support said tramway bars at their inner end portions while the outer portions thereof are sustained by the respective guard bars.

14. In a car-truck having a` spring planl; and inside hung trussed brake-beams, aligned tramway suspension bars for said beams, guard bars secured to a truck member and extending' outwardly over said suspension bars and above the brake-beams and connected at their outer ends with the outer ends oi said suspension bars and a plate below the spring' plank and secured thereto having a channel into which the inner end portions ot said tramway bars may be introduced. endwise and which plate is adapted to support said tramway bars at their inner end portions while the outer portions thereot are sustained by the respective guard bars,

said guard bars resisting; outward movement.-

id tramway bars 'from said plate and elsif-ments l'ieingg' arranged to resist undue inward movement thereof.

ln a car-truck having1 a spring` plank and inside hung' trussed brake-beamsy aligned tramway suspension bars tor said. beams, guard bars secured to `a truck member and extending' outwardly over said suspension bars and above the brake-beams and connected at their outer ends with the outer ends oit said suspension bars and a plate below the spring plank and secured thereto having a channel into which the inner end portions oit said 'tramway bars may be introduced endwise and which plate is adapted to support said tramway bars at their inner end portions while the outer portions thereof are sustained by the respective gruard bars. the channel in said plate permitting' said tramway bars to pass into abuttingv relation with each other at their inner ends 1G. lin a car-truck having a spring plank and inside hung trussed brake-beams, aligned tramway suspension bars for said beams guard bars secured to a truck member and extending' outwardly over said suspension bars and above the brake-beams and connected at their outer ends with the outer ends ot said suspension bars and a plate below the spring plank and secured thereto having a channel into which the inner end portions ot said tramway bars may be introduced endwise and which plate is adapted to support said tramway bars at their inner end portions while the outer portions thereor" are sustained by the respective guard bars, said tramway bars being detachable from said guard bars and when detached therefrom beine' adapted to be4 withdrawn 'trom the channel ot said plate.

l?. ln car-truck having; a spring plank and a trussed bral e-bcani a, tramway suspension bar for said beam, a guard bar socured toi a truck member and extending; outwardly over said suspension bar and above the bralre beam and connected at its outer end with the outer end of the suspension ban and a. plate below the spring' plank and' secured thereto having' a channel into which the inner end portion ot the suspension bar may be introduced endwise and which plate is adapted to securely support said bar at its inner end portion while the outer end portion thereoitl is sustained by said `guard har. said tramway bar beine' detachable from said ,guard bar and when detached therefrom beine` adapted to be withdrawn from the channel ot said plate.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State ot New York., this 21st. day ot March. A. D. 1924.

SETH A.. GRNE., 

